“Mirror” by Fiorenza Sarzanini: “I know the suffering of those with an eating disorder”

Juliette has suffered from bulimia for years. But her discomfort was not visible because her body was similar to that of so many other women. “I would have preferred to be anorexic because you can see it instead I had to bare my legs to be understood.” Juliette’s story is told by Fiorenza Sarzanini, deputy director of Corriere della Sera in the new podcast series Mirror dedicated to eating disorders e produced by Chora Media, the Italian podcast company, founded in 2020 by Guido Maria Brera, Mario Gianani, Roberto Zanco and Mario Calabresi who directs it.

“I am very attentive to this issue,” says Fiorenza Sarzanini. “I had a bout of eating disorder at age 23, it is a topic that is very close to my heart, I know the seriousness of the problem, I know what it causes in families ».

About 3 million sufferers of eating disorders in Italy, mostly young and very young. Data from the Ministry of Health document a 30 percent increase in cases in post lockdown, the majority of which among children and preteens. Anorexia and bulimia they begin to manifest themselves from the age of 8.

«I am very impressed by everything that happens on the net on this topic. I read a study by the Gaslini hospital in Genoa which said that with the lockdown there was an increase of at least 30 percent. I was struck by this fact and above all one thing: the increase in children, including boys, aged 8 to 9 who have stopped eating ».

Mirror, written together with Francesca Milano, tells six stories but also provides many useful information, telephone number and contacts. As the doctor explains Laura Dalla Ragione, psychiatrist and therapist who directs the Palazzo Francisci center, the first Italian public structure dedicated exclusively to eating disorders. Together with Alberto Villani, primary of Pediatrics at the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome, participated in the creation of the podcast.

«It is very important to raise awareness on the problem of eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder), so that parents, teachers, GPs and pediatricians can intervene early, at the first signs of an eating disorder. The timeliness of the therapeutic intervention is what makes the difference. If you intervene in the first year of a history of the disease, the chances of recovery are very high, close to 90 percent in particular for anorexia ».

From the pandemic onwards, registered a increase in people who get sick for the first time between the ages of 35 and 40. The male population, which once represented only 1 per cent of those suffering from eating disorders, is also growing with an incidence of 20 per cent in the age group between 13 and 17 years.

“In Italy we are far behind in this sector,” explains Sarzanini. «Suffice it to say that not yet in all Italian regions there are free residences for those suffering from eating disorders. This is a disease and instead it is experienced as a whim, the fact that the age has lowered is because a discomfort occurs. It is a situation that affects me in a particular way, I feel the need to do something for these people because I know how bad it is».

Mirror he speaks to young people to families and to those who know they need help but cannot ask for it. «The first thing is to convince her that you have a problem, because those who have an eating disorder are absolutely not aware of their pathology and the risks they run. So parents, friends, teachers have to gently convince the patient that it is possible to live better even without this symptom, this golden prison called anorexia ».

Time is a fundamental ally. “We want to tell parents and families that they are not alone “, concludes Fiorenza Sarzanini. “If this disease is caught in time and addressed to the right people, it can be cured.”

Mirror is available free of charge from 14 September its Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Google Podcasts e su choramedia.com.